Eastbourne Beach management works
Why are the works necessary?
Eastbourne is no different to the rest of the EnglishChannel coast in having to deal with rising sealevels, increased storminess and naturally erodingbeaches. Shingle is no longer being brought ashoreby the sea in sufficient quantity to naturally sustainthe beach, and flint released from eroding chalkcliffs to the west is equally inadequate. In commonwith many other parts of the country, the level ofprotection afforded to Eastbourne is onlymaintained by directly adding shingle to the beachto replace material that is lost as it drifts eastwardalong the coast.Eastbourne’s Coast Protection Scheme saw theplacement of 780,000 m³ of shingle during 1998‐9.Since then only minor shingle works have beenundertaken, with the result that the beach is now inneed of renourishment. Not only that, but shinglehas also been moving from west to east along theseafront. A substantial amount now needs to bemoved westwards towards Holywell to reinforcedepleted groyne bays to the east of the WishTower.Who is doing the work?The contract for this work has been awarded toPevensey Coastal Defence Ltd (PCDL), who havesuccessfully been maintaining Pevensey Bay’sbeaches for the last 10 years. WestminsterDredging Company Ltd is part of the PCDLconsortium and will be undertaking most of thework on PCDL’s behalf. They were also part of thejoint venture team that undertook the originalrenourishment in 1998‐9. All works are beingmanaged by Eastbourne Borough Council’sEngineering team.What is involved?Works will consist of two distinct operations;Recycling and Renourishment.Recycling involves re‐using shingle already on thebeach. Material from groyne bays in surfeit ismoved to others where there is a deficiency.Excavators load surplus beach into dump trucks,which then travel along the beach and tip theshingle where it is needed. Bulldozers then pushthe beach into its required position. Approximately70,000 m³ of beach needs to be recycled.Renourishment means importing shingle fromelsewhere. In this case aggregate will be dredgedfrom the sea bed and delivered to the beach bytrailing suction hopper dredger Prins der Nederlanden . She willcollect material from a licensed dredge area knownas Owers Bank, which is a little over 6 milesoffshore from Littlehampton. Dredging isundertaken at low water so that Prins der Nederlanden can timeher arrival at Eastbourne to coincide with highwater. About 1km offshore she will connect to thefloating end of a temporary pipeline laid on theseabed. Her cargo will be mixed with sea water andthen pumped ashore. Deliveries will be made everyhigh tide, seven days a week, until the necessaryquantity has been delivered.Excavators will load much of the delivered shingleinto dump trucks so it can be moved to the precisegroyne bays where it is needed. This reclamationwill occur day and night and during weekends. Theuse of beach machines will be minimised duringhours of darkness and on Sundays as far as ispracticable. Delivery through the pipeline willcreate a degree of noise which cannot be avoided.Approximately 200,000 m³ of sea‐dredgedaggregate needs to be delivered.EASTBOURNE BEACH MANAGEMENT 2011Recycling in operationDredger Prins der Nederlanden pumping sea dredgedaggregate ashore on a previous contract.When will the work take place?Work will start at the end of January.Environmental restrictions mean that inorder to avoid possible damage toHolywell Reef only recycled shingle canbe used at the western end of thefrontage. This means that shingle will bedug from existing beaches near the WishTower and delivered by dump trucks tothe groyne bays between the Wish Towerand Holywell.Removing shingle in this way createsspace into which sea dredged aggregatescan be delivered. The temporary pipelinewill first come ashore in the area ofgroyne 76, opposite Princes Park at theeastern end of Royal Parade. It willsubsequently be moved to near groyne28 at the Wish Tower. The timing of thismove, as with all work, is dependent onsea conditions prevailing at the time.Both dredging and delivery operationsare affected by rough seas, which at thistime of the year are a distinct possibility,and inevitably mean delays.It is anticipated that work will becompleted in eight weeks, althoughbecause it is being carried out at the endof winter some disruption to the workprogramme is to be expected.How will the Works affect access?When heavy plant is working on thebeach – either recycling existing beach ormoving sea‐dredged aggregate from thepump‐head – it will be necessary torestrict public access for safety reasons.In general work is being programmed tomove from west to east, so as workprogresses completed sections of beachcan then be re‐opened to the public.Throughout the works access will bemaintained along all promenades.Please be watchful and make surethat children, in particular, areaware of the potential hazardsassociated with the movement ofheavy machinery along the beach.